Asian astrologers warn of sss-stormy Year of Snake

A woman pushes a loaded cart past a billboard set up for the Chinese New Year of the snake in Hong Kong. A stock market slide, possible conflict between Japan and China and more Gangnam-styled success for South Korean singer Psy will shape the incoming Year of the Snake, say Asian soothsayers. -- PHOTO: AFP

HONG KONG (AFP) - A stock market slide, escalated conflict between Japan and China and more Gangnam-styled success for South Korean singer Psy will shape the incoming Year of the Snake, say Asian soothsayers.

Those who make predictions according to the study of feng shui - or literally "wind-water" - are influential in many parts of Asia where people adjust their lives or renovate houses and offices based on the advice.

As they bid farewell to the Year of the Dragon, the fortune tellers warn that the "black water snake" that emerges to replace it on Feb 10 - the first day of the Chinese New Year - could be a venomous one that brings disaster.

Previous Snake years have been marked by the Sept 11, 2001 terror strikes that killed nearly 3,000 people, the crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941.